The aim of this paper was to compare the pottery kilns of the Chernyakhiv culture in two disparate regions for evaluating the organization in pottery manufacturing based on the kilns, their construction and material. Today 11 sites in the western region and 5 sites in the eastern region are known each with one or several kilns. The kilns can be divided in type 1—6 after Bobrinskiy (or the variant A—C after Henning). On the current state of research type 2 seems to prevail in the western region, type 3 in the eastern region. As an example for new investigations the kilns found in Voitenki (Kharkiv county) are presented in detail. Furthermore structures / constructions around the kilns were considered to find evidences for the existence of workshops. In both regions under discussion such remains has been observed rarely (Komariv, Voitenki). Concerning the question, if pottery was produced seasonally or all-the-year, remains of repairs in the kilns were taken into account in both regions (Lepesovka, Voitenki). Another point was the position of the kilns within the settlements. In the western region they were situated at the border of the settlement or even apart them. In the eastern region they were found in several parts of the settlement, in Voitenki in a special part, where evidences of technical works and craft activities are concentrated. After all it seems that in both regions of the Chernyakhiv culture the organization of pottery production worked on a similar economic level, but with local modifications in every settlement.
The children’s graves at the cemeteries of the Chernyakhiv / Sоntana de Mureş culture are the relevant problem for the archaeology of the period. Children’s burials at the cemeteries of this culture have been the subject of special study for more than fifteen years. At the cemetery Voytenky 15 graves of children of various ages were discovered (graves 6, 34, 50, 72, 79, 85, 94, 97, 99, 103, 126, 217, 218, 220, 231). Their analysis is envisaged within the framework of the project on the reconstruction of the social structure of the population of the Chernyakhiv culture on the basis of the cemetery Voytenki. The publication of materials from grave 231 of the cemetery Voytenki includes archaeological and anthropological analysis. Inventory features of the complex allow determination of the social status of the child and his family. The burial’s inventory includes 24 vessels. A specific feature of this complex is the presence of an amphora. The burial belongs to the phase «C» after the relative chronology of the «classical» Chernyakhiv culture horizon in the Dnepr-Donetsk forest-steppe (after M. Lyubichev). This correlates with stages C3, C3/D1 by J. Tejral, and in absolute dates can be attributed to the third quarter of the 4th century. The age of the child determined as (1.5) 2—2.5 years. Pathological lesions on the skeleton diagnosed as traces of scurvy, probably anemia, and viral or bacterial meningitis. Their presence permits raise the question of adaptation of the children of particular social class to their living conditions. Presumably, some adults of this social stratum belonged to the mobile part of the population or were in close contact with migrants. Migrations could be seen as one of the reasons, led to the emergence of new infections, which primarily affected children. The grave with the amphora testifies to the strong economic position of the family, whose child was buried. This family probably participated in an interregional exchange.
One of the most important problems in the study of the Chernyakhiv culture is the study of cultural traditions, among them the Sarmatian one. A comparative study of the manifestation of the signs of the Sarmatian element on the «side» and «dune» cemeteries in the region is important, for which Voytenki and Zachepilovka are now undoubtedly «basic» monuments. When identifying burials of the Late Scythian / Sarmatian cultural tradition, the presence and combination of «indisputable» and «probable» signs is taken into account. Sarmatian cultural tradition at cemeteries of the Chernyakhiv culture Voytenki and Zachepilovka in the Dnieper-Donets forest-steppe are manifested predominantly in the same way, but has also distinctive features. Both cemeteries have graves in niche pit. In the graves of Zachepilovka more hand-made vessels have been detected und there they have been found even in cremation graves. At both cemeteries a combination of «indisputable» Late Scythian / Sarmatian signs is rather rare, the «indisputable» signs are supplemented by «probable» ones. Late Scythian / Sarmatian features are more significant at the Zachepilovka cemetery. Some models of the compatibility of Sarmatian features in the burials are presented, which were also observed at the cemeteries of the Chernyakhiv culture in the Dnieper-Donets forest-steppe. In the context of the study of the Late Scythian / Sarmatian tradition in the Chernyakhiv culture, the issue of the evolution of the content of the rite of the construction in niche pit from the «ethnic» to the social is also relevant.
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